Ph.D.:
Ph.D. in Agrobiotechnology for tropical productions (13/04/2012, three years), University of Florence (Italy). The aim of the research was to highlight the effects of the sound waves on maize root during the gravitropism. For this reason, I learned the biophysics basic techniques using a micro-scanning LDV (Laser Doppler Vibrometer).
Master Degree:
Master Degree in Science and Agricultural Technologies (28/04/2008, five years), University of Florence (Italy). The aim of my thesis was the effects on growth of grapevine after the implementation of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) microchips into the rootstock. The modified plants were totally indistinguishable from unmarked plants, and they can maintain this electronic feature throughout their entire existence. By this feature, plants can be monitored easily, and they will be able to supply innumerable information: data about their origin, growth parameter, productivity and more.
International Master course:
I attended the 15th Bologna winter school - Bioinformatics for biological complexity 2014, University of Bologna (International Master Course in Bioinformatics - School of Science). I passed the final examination with marks 30/30.
Teaching:
International Master course:
I attended the 15th Bologna winter school - Bioinformatics for biological complexity 2014, University of Bologna (International Master Course in Bioinformatics - School of Science). I passed the final examination with marks 30/30.
- Invited Lecture on “Plant Physiology” for university students in the Viticulture and Enology program (University of Georgia, Barone Ricasoli farm in Brolio, Gaiole in Chianti, Italy, May 24, 2017, UGA study abroad program)
- Lecture on “Ampelography” for university students in the Agricultural Sciences program (University of
Florence, 4 hours, October 14, 2016).
- Lecture on “Tuscany viticulture” for university students in the Agricultural Sciences program (University of Florence, 4 hours, December 11, 2015).
- Lecture on “plant identification” for university students in the Agricultural Sciences program (University of Florence, 4 hours, November 12, 2015).
- Lecture on “Eco-Plant Physiology in Viticulture” for university students in the Agricultural Sciences program (University of Florence, 3 hours, October 8, 2015).
- Guest Lecture on “Architecture of the vascular system in leaves and mechanisms of response to abiotic stress in grapevines” in the Viticulture and Enology program (University of Pisa, 3 hours, May 6, 2015).
Student tutoring:
Tutor for scientific activities at the National Research Council (CNR), in collaboration with the University of Florence, for the following students:
• Mr. Giacomo Ancarani, from 04/12/2023 to 17/01/2024
• Mr. Francesco Belli, from 28/10/2024 to 12/12/2024
• Mr. Giacomo Mocarli, from 03/02/2025 to 11/04/2025
International Congress or seminar:
--Invited speaker at the CNR IBBR Webinars, 24 September 2025 (https://www.ibbr.cnr.it/ibbr/resources/webinars/?id=79).
--Invited speaker at “ImagEAT — First Workshop on Imaging, AI, VR, and AR in Food Research to Enhance Safety, Quality, and Consumer Insights," held on September 16 at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy (https://sites.google.com/view/imageat2025/home-page).
--Invited speaker at the International Conference on Plant Science and Molecular Biology, 14-15 April, 2025, Rome, Italy (https://plantscience.c2pforum.com).
--Invited Speaker at the Infectious Diseases Congress 2025, 14-15 April, 2025, Rome, Italy (https://infectiousdiseases.c2pforum.com).
--Keynote speaker at the 3rd International Virtual Conference on Plant Science and Agriculture Research, August 3-4, 2024 (https://plantscience.delightscientific.com).
--Invited speaker at the International Conference on Materials Science & Engineering,14-15 November, 2024, H10 Roma Città in Rome, Italy.
--Speaker and moderator at the 26th IUFRO World Congress, June 24-29, 2024, Stockholm, Sweden.
--Speaker at the workshop “la concimazione organo-minerale per la nutrizione della vite”, March 7 2018, CREA-VE Institute, Arezzo, Italy.
Editorial roles:
• 2025 to 2026: Guest editor for the Special Issue entitled “The Role of Plants in Sound and Vibration Mitigation” for the Sound & Vibration journal (Academic Publishing, ISSN: 2693-1443).
• 2025: Guest editor for the Special Issue entitled “Bioactive Molecules: Natural Sources and Their Functions” for the Molecules journal (MDPI, ISSN: ISSN 1420-3049).
• 2025: Guest editor for the Special Issue entitled “Plants in Anthropogenic Environments: Responses to Sound and Novel Environmental Cues” for the Frontiers in Plant Science and Frontiers in Plant Physiology journal (Frontiers, ISSN: 2813-821X).
• 2025: Guest editor for the Special Issue entitled “Advances in Nanotechnology for Monitoring and Enhancing Plant Physiological Responses Under Environmental Stress” for the Plants journal (MDPI, ISSN: 2223-7747).
• 2024 to 2025: Guest editor for the Special Issue entitled "Adaptation of Living Species to Environmental Stress" for the Biology journal (MDPI, ISSN: 2079-7737).
• 2024 to present: Reviewer board for the Sound & Vibration journal (Academic Publishing, ISSN 2693-1443).
• 2024 to present: Editorial board member for the Probe-Plant & Animal Sciences (Universe Scientific Publishing, ISSN: 2661-4057).
• 2020 to present: Topic Editor for the Biology journal (MDPI, ISSN: 2079-7737).
• 2018 - 2020: Editorial board member for Journal of Plant Sciences (Science PG, ISSN: 2331-0731).
Head of Laboratory:
21/09/2023 to present: Head of the Chemical and Plant Biophysics Laboratory D-106, IRET-CNR, Sesto F.no (Florence, Italy).
21/09/2023 to 25/10/2024: Head of the Laboratory D-108, IRET-CNR, Sesto F.no (Florence, Italy).
Projects:
• Principal Investigator (PI) of the bilateral cooperation project between Italy (Funded by CNR Call, ID project 10961) and Brazil (Funded by SAGe-FAPESP-CONFAP Call), titled: “Enhancing Urban Green Resilience in Brazil and Italy: Addressing Air Pollutants and Climate Change Impacts”. Funding allocated: €40,000 for the Italian side. The project is scheduled to run from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027. The project aims to develop solutions that connect ecological research between Brazil and Italy teams, focusing on identifying tree species with natural resilience to urban pollutants and climate stressors.
• Principal Investigator (PI) for the project entitled: “Evaluation of Salt-stress with TErahertz in Plants” (E-STEP; project ID: 3717), connected to the EURO-BIOIMAGING platform, THz@Italy - Molecular Imaging Italian Node. This project, which started on February 27, 2025, and is scheduled to conclude on December 31, 2025, aims to investigate the use of THz imaging and spectroscopy to assess, for the first time, the effects of salinity stress on plants. In particular, It focuses on detecting salt-induced plant stress using non-invasive THz imaging and a THz-TDS.
• Member of the Scientific Team for the project “Sound Greenfall”, showcased at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2025. The project explored plant bioacoustics, specifically investigating how sound stimulation influences plant growth.
• Principal Investigator (PI) for the project entitled: “Fruit Recognition Using Imaging Terahertz for Swift Contamination Assessment and Non-invasive inspection” (FRUITSCAN; project ID 3159), connected to the EURO-BIOIMAGING platform, THz@Italy - Molecular Imaging Italian Node. The project, which started on December 21, 2023, and concluded on December 31, 2024, promotes the use of a THz imaging device and artificial intelligence to distinguish between contaminated and uncontaminated dry fruits accurately, specifically detecting issues related to insect or fungus infestation.
• CNR Team member of the EU project entitled: “Microbial services addressing climate change risks for biodiversity and for agricultural and forestry ecosystems: enabling curiosity-driven research and advancing frontier knowledge (MICROBES-4-CLIMATE)”, Call: HORIZON-INFRA-2023-SERV-01, Programme: HORIZON. This project is funded by the European Union under the Grant Agreement n. 101131818 (funding range of €8 million to €14.5 million).
• CNR Team Member for the project called: “Nature-Based Business Model and Emerging Innovations to enhance Carbon Farming Initiatives (CFIs) while preserving Biodiversity, Water Security and Soil Health” (Project acronym: INNO4CFIs, Call: I3-2021-INV1). The INNO4CFIs project has received funding from the European Commission under the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) instrument, Grant Agreement no. 101115156.
• Team member of LINV-UNIFI for ESA (European Space Agency) gravity projects:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/edu/SYT/SYT2010_ExpReport_LINV_UNIFI.pdf,
Amount financed of 5000 euros.
Other research experiences:
- I performed an international research activity at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, UK. I worked with prof. Daniel Robert and dr. Fernando Montealegre-Z studying the effect of low-frequency sound waves on plants. I developed and conducted experiments on the growth behaviour of maize roots in the presence of different environmental conditions, including the presence of substrate vibrations.
- Research activity at the Agriculture Research Council - Research Unit for Viticulture (Arezzo, Italy): the first aim of this activity was to valorise the germplasm vineyard collection, composed of 420 grapevine accession of Vitis vinifera L., using a contactless smart card linked to specific web pages. A mobile device was used to identify the collected plants in the collection and a database was specially developed for each accession. The web collection platform was developed using LAMP architecture and MySQL was the database, managed using Drupal software. The database built in this project offers fundamental support regarding the biodiversity of the grapevines collected in the vineyard.
- I performed a collaboration, at the University of Pisa - CREA - CNR, in studying a new non-invasive method to investigate the leaf water content. This method has been patented.
- I performed a collaboration, at the University of Pisa - CREA - CNR, in studying a new non-invasive method to investigate the leaf water content. This method has been patented.
Computer skills:
Windows; MAC; Linux; Internet; Microsoft Office; Drupal (PHP); ImageJ; Prism Graphpad; Costat CoHort; Photoshop; ImageTool; Leaf GUI; Matlab (basic).